a "tip" for LED installation

choklitlove · February 20, 2006, 09:15:02 PM

i had some frustration installing leds with a resistor and all that junk. this helped me a lot, so maybe it will help someone else as well. but, with all the geniuses in this place, i doubt it will. just an idea:

Ken · February 20, 2006, 09:48:51 PM

Great idea

Why didn't I think of that.............

Cheers Ken.

pi22seven · February 20, 2006, 09:56:39 PM

This is one of those low tech solutions that totally kick ass.

Thanks for the tip!

finkfloyd · February 20, 2006, 10:24:42 PM

Hi, Very handy tip! But I just found these at maplin I ordered a load of them

: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=2073&criteria=FM38R&doy=21m2

These should give a nice finish to a box, if you search for "led holder" thety stock them with or without leds.

Edit the above is for 5mm leds, and ive just ordered 15 of them by accident! I have no idea if 3 mm ones will fit properly yet, but they do stcok the 3mm holders they are a bit more expensive though.

choklitlove · February 20, 2006, 11:10:05 PM

thanks. it works pretty well. you can still use any LED holders with it. and, it turns out so small, you can even fit some shrink tube around most of it. even if you don't want to use holders, the perfboard acts as a stopper so the LED can't slip through the hole. also, if you're handy, you can strap the board down somehow and hold the led in place.
i'm making a whole bunch of them.

choklitlove · February 20, 2006, 11:12:10 PM

okay, this leads me to a question.

can you buy strips of perfboard? like, 1x50, or something? if so, where?

that would really be handy.

burnt fingers · February 21, 2006, 12:33:21 AM

Great idea. I have been pondering this for a while. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. I will be trying this on my next project.

Scott

alteredsounds · February 21, 2006, 04:16:40 AM

Always done this since some1 else mentioned it a while back on the board and doing similar with pcb type pots (the skinny terminal ones). Found an old board I'd given up on ages ago and it now it supllies all my 'mini' stripboard needs for things like this.

Mark Hammer · February 21, 2006, 09:35:32 AM

I have never used them, so maybe there is something I am missing that people can fill me in on.

Ideally, an LED should draw as little additional current as possible. It can do this (or is helped to do it) by being as visible as possible at the lowest possible illumination level. It becomes more visible when viewed against a dark surround.

So what the heck is the attraction of surrounding an LED with all sorts of shiny crap that reduces contrast? I mean, I know it looks nice and all, and Mike/Vsat tells me it is supposed to increase visibility angle, but maybe that is an advantage that only appears when you're standing on an otherwise dark stage. If I think of scenarios where there is any degree of ambient lighting, it just seems like you'd need to pump a couple more milliamps into those leds to make them be seen against the glint of the bezel.

Somebody please.....um...."enlighten" me.

alteredsounds · February 21, 2006, 10:00:43 AM

never used the bezels u mean mark? nor have i as yet but they look pretty

Kondor · February 21, 2006, 10:22:57 AM

I clicked on the link and I typed in "led holder" and all that comes up is a plastic box that holds different sizes and colors of LED's, not the part in the picture you posted above. Is the link info typed in correctly?

Joecool85 · February 21, 2006, 10:23:32 AM

Wow, thats a great idea! I think I may try that.

Paul Perry (Frostwave) · February 21, 2006, 10:38:02 AM

Quote from: Mark Hammer on February 21, 2006, 09:35:32 AM
So what the heck is the attraction of surrounding an LED with all sorts of shiny crap that reduces contrast? Somebody please.....um...."enlighten" me.

Well..... think of the shiny part as reflecting the LED, not the surrounds. Which, depending on the angle you are looking from, it does remarkably well. From a guitarist's perspective, they are a good thing. It doesn't help from across the room, though. And it's kind of obsolete, considering built-in lens structures you can get.
As I've said before (many times) to increase visibility, make the damn thing flash. The worst trouble I have with leds, is light reflecting from them & being unable to tell whether they are on or off.
Incidentally, you can get bezels that are black. I have one on my infrared theremin. (I doubt it is black at infrared wavelengths, though.)

gez · February 21, 2006, 11:06:03 AM

I use those bezels linked to rather than the type that are flush with the surface of a box. If your LEDs are mounted close to a stompswitch they offer the LED good protection from clumsy, booted axe-slingers!!

bwanasonic · February 21, 2006, 11:08:23 AM

I have used a similar perfboard mount for my LEDs on several projects. I use the small black plastic LED collars, as I really don't like the look of chrome bezels on my effects. I'm working on having a separate mini-PCB that holds the power filtering parts as well as the LED. Thanks for the photo, as I had been thinking *horizontally*, now the photo has me thinking *vertically*.

Kerry M

Mark Hammer · February 21, 2006, 12:53:34 PM

Quote from: Paul Perry (Frostwave) on February 21, 2006, 10:38:02 AM
As I've said before (many times) to increase visibility, make the damn thing flash. The worst trouble I have with leds, is light reflecting from them & being unable to tell whether they are on or off.
Incidentally, you can get bezels that are black. I have one on my infrared theremin. (I doubt it is black at infrared wavelengths, though.)

Years and years ago, Craig Anderton had a small LM3909-based circuit for providing LED flashing (I still have a photocopy if you want a scan, although scoring some LM3909's may be tough). The goal was to have something more visible, but also since current was stored up for purposes of a brief flash, it used less current than leaving an LED on all the time. I never could figure out that damn circuit, though, and had no idea where the LED was supposed to be attached. It might make more sense 25 years later, but it sure didn'T make a helluva lot of sense then.

I have no quarrel with the bezel per se. It's the shininess that leaves me scratching my head. Every time I see one of those blue LEDs in a chrome bezel, they always seem to look like runway beacon lights intended to be seen against the glare of the city from miles away, and I'm thinking "Does all that current really NEED to be directed to the LED? Do my eyeballs really NEED to be seared like that?". I lean more towards a modest little red dot that is only as bright as it needs to be for me to know it went on or off as intended when I stepped. The darker the surround, the easier it is for the little red dot to BE modest. I'll use the litle black plastic snap-in type bezels, but often I'll just use a small hole drilled in the chassis, with a little 2-3mm wide LED just poking its head up through the holem, and a little bit of hot glue on the underside of the panel just for insurance. Lots of companies (Boss included) use a very modest little red dot.

choklitlove · February 21, 2006, 09:14:52 PM

Quote from: Mark Hammer on February 21, 2006, 12:53:34 PM
Quote from: Paul Perry (Frostwave) on February 21, 2006, 10:38:02 AM
As I've said before (many times) to increase visibility, make the damn thing flash. The worst trouble I have with leds, is light reflecting from them & being unable to tell whether they are on or off.
Incidentally, you can get bezels that are black. I have one on my infrared theremin. (I doubt it is black at infrared wavelengths, though.)

Years and years ago, Craig Anderton had a small LM3909-based circuit for providing LED flashing (I still have a photocopy if you want a scan, although scoring some LM3909's may be tough). The goal was to have something more visible, but also since current was stored up for purposes of a brief flash, it used less current than leaving an LED on all the time. I never could figure out that damn circuit, though, and had no idea where the LED was supposed to be attached. It might make more sense 25 years later, but it sure didn'T make a helluva lot of sense then.

I have no quarrel with the bezel per se. It's the shininess that leaves me scratching my head. Every time I see one of those blue LEDs in a chrome bezel, they always seem to look like runway beacon lights intended to be seen against the glare of the city from miles away, and I'm thinking "Does all that current really NEED to be directed to the LED? Do my eyeballs really NEED to be seared like that?". I lean more towards a modest little red dot that is only as bright as it needs to be for me to know it went on or off as intended when I stepped. The darker the surround, the easier it is for the little red dot to BE modest. I'll use the litle black plastic snap-in type bezels, but often I'll just use a small hole drilled in the chassis, with a little 2-3mm wide LED just poking its head up through the holem, and a little bit of hot glue on the underside of the panel just for insurance. Lots of companies (Boss included) use a very modest little red dot.

i'm with you on the small, 2-3 mm LEDs. they look better to me, and they look awesome with a simple black bezel.

Joecool85 · February 21, 2006, 09:30:33 PM

I use red 5mm LEDs.

gtrmac · February 21, 2006, 09:44:11 PM

Quote from: Mark Hammer on February 21, 2006, 09:35:32 AM
I have never used them, so maybe there is something I am missing that people can fill me in on.

Ideally, an LED should draw as little additional current as possible. It can do this (or is helped to do it) by being as visible as possible at the lowest possible illumination level. It becomes more visible when viewed against a dark surround.

So what the heck is the attraction of surrounding an LED with all sorts of shiny crap that reduces contrast? I mean, I know it looks nice and all, and Mike/Vsat tells me it is supposed to increase visibility angle, but maybe that is an advantage that only appears when you're standing on an otherwise dark stage. If I think of scenarios where there is any degree of ambient lighting, it just seems like you'd need to pump a couple more milliamps into those leds to make them be seen against the glint of the bezel.

The bezel acts as a reflector to increase the apparent brightness of the LED.

Somebody please.....um...."enlighten" me.

col · February 22, 2006, 03:00:44 AM

I have started using those high brightness 5mm LEDs which cost around £1 depending on colour rather than the few pence normal ones cost and they are much more easily visible on stage. I put a green one in one of my pedals and it sent a beam of light up at a recent gig which was visible in the smoke! I have also been using the black plastic LED holders from Maplins as they keep the LED in place much better than superglue and give it some protection.
I am using my old LEDs up as clipping diodes as IMO they sound much better than the 1N1418s usually used.
Do the high brightness LEDs use much more current? They haven't made any difference to the sound of my pedals but I run them off a power supply rather than batteries.

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a "tip" for LED installation